“The polar winter feeding feast“ – stunning underwater photography

After I still felt extremely cold in my warm wool coat and with my scarf, I simply had to realize that the summer has finally said good-bye for this year. However, Norwegian photographer and scientist Audun Rikardsen has proved us with his photos of whales and other Polar Sea animals how wonderful colder areas can actually be.

Those who combine creativity with technology really have a great advantage. That’s what Rikardsen knows especially after being rewarded the renowned international Fritz Pölking Prize 2016 for his work. The prize has been awarded since 2007 by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Tierfotographen (Society of German Animal Photographers) and the Tecklenborg publishing company. Every year an excellent photo creation is awarded, which on the one hand is a wildlife photo project and on the other a portfolio.

In his series Audun Rikardsen presents a successful mix of a wonderful photo story and impressive animal pictures. In order to not miss perfect shots at night the photographer, who also works as a biology professor at Tromsø University, developed his own flashlight system. An extremely great example of his successful pictures in the dark is the one of a humpback whale at night. A jury member of the Fritz Pölking Prize, Patrick Brakowski, commented on the special art of the Norwegian photographer as follows: “He masterly knows how to use light – or rather darkness – using his self-built flash system in the depth of the polar winter to stage a humpback whale swimming and explosively exhaling air at the surface of the water in a rather mystical way.”